CJS Studios Avondale Arizona
Early Tuesday morning, a building on the property of the CJS Film Studios in Avondale Arizona caught fire. Fire crews worked to extinguish the blaze, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation. The studio, which was opened in the mid-1980s and had been used to film movies such as "The Vagrant" and "Hidden Palms," has since been sold due to the economy and new developments surrounding the studio. Thankfully, no injuries were reported and no other buildings were damaged.
We stumbled upon this place on accident, my son Tristan and I were heading to another location to get some shots when we noticed this old building in the distance. We got lucky, there were a couple of workers on site who gave us permission to photograph the entire area.
I was enamoured with the fact that this antique movie set was a duplicate of history it self and even contained sets of different community types during that time.
I left with a very real wonder about the wild west, a sense of time that was a beauty to realize. I even caught myself talking with a drawl. The fire destroyed it, but my eye has kept it very real.